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Company relents on breast cancer gene test

Ari Sharp

THE company that intended to block hospitals from testing for a genetic predisposition for breast cancer is likely to abandon its plan following a public outcry.

Melbourne company Genetic Technologies holds the Australian patent for a test for BRCA1 and BRCA2, genes that increase the chances of breast cancer in women.

For the past six years the company has allowed competing laboratories to perform the test, but this year it announced it would block others from testing the samples obtained from patients.

But at a fiery annual general meeting yesterday, shareholders in the company voted out most of the board of directors and left the board with a team of three led by the company's founder, Mervyn Jacobson.

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Regarding the controversial decision to enforce the BRCA test rights, Dr Jacobson told the meeting: "To the extent that I'm able to, I will reverse that."

Speaking to The Age after the meeting, Dr Jacobson described the test as the company's "gift to Australia". He said that when the test was first licensed from US company Myriad Genetic Laboratories, the local company promised to allow wide access to the test.

"I believe we should honour the commitment we made. I see no reason for the confrontation," he said.

Dr Jacobson said the company would seek to nurture rather than attack other laboratories that perform the test.

Under Genetic Technologies' earlier plan, hospitals that took samples from patients would need to have them processed at the company's Melbourne laboratory. The company argued that waiting times would be reduced to four weeks, and it committed to keep the cost of the test  paid by government health authorities in most cases  unchanged at about $2100.

But the company's decision prompted an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission due to fears the company would effectively hold a monopoly over the test. Separately, NSW Liberal senator Bill Heffernan launched a Senate inquiry into the patenting of genetic material.

Dr Jacobson said the previous board's decision and the negative attention the company had received from the Government and media formed part of the reason for his decision to seek the removal of most board members.

Following the initial uproar, the company had already decided to postpone the enforcement of its rights, pending further discussion with stakeholders.

Breast Cancer Network Australia's policy manager, Michelle Marven, said the shift sent a message that the community did not support private ownership of genetic tests.

"What we hope is that this will bring returned certainty to women who are seeking this kind of test and create some security in the longer term," she said.